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Chess robot breaks seven-year-old’s finger during tournament in Russia

A stock photo of a chess-playing robot in Shanghai — unconnected to this incident. | Photo by Gao Yuwen/VCG via Getty Images A chess robot broke the finger of a seven-year-old boy playing in a tournament in Russia, according to reports from local news outlets (seen via The Guardian ). The incident happened last week at the Moscow Chess Open, where the robot was hired to play competitors. Video of the incident (below) shows the machine is a standard industrial robot arm customized to move pieces on three chess boards simultaneously. “The robot broke the child’s finger. This, of course, is bad,” Sergey Lazarev, President of the Moscow Chess Federation, told Russian news agency TASS (translation via Google Translate). Said Lazarev: “The robot was rented by us, it has been exhibited in many places, for a long time, with specialists. Apparently, the operators overlooked it. The child made a move, and after that we need to give time for the robot to answer, but the boy hurried, the r

China successfully launches Wentian module as space station nears completion

A Long March 5B rocket with the Wentian module takes off from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site. | Photo by Hou Yu/China News Service via Getty Images China successfully launched its second module, called Wentian, to the Tiangong space station early Sunday morning ( via SpaceNews ). Wentian took off aboard a Long March 5B rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan, China at 2:22AM ET (2:22PM local), docking at the Tiangong space station about 13 hours later at 3:13PM ET (3:13AM local). The Wentian module contains equipment that allows the Chinese astronauts, also known as taikonauts, to perform various scientific experiments during their time on the station. As noted by The New York Times , the additional module will also provide three extra spaces to sleep, as well as another airlock that crewmembers can use to conduct spacewalks. Watch this footage of #Wentian docking. Blurred recording of the mission control screen, but still great to see the thrusters firing and t

Elon Musk reportedly had an affair with Google co-founder Sergey Brin’s wife

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Elon Musk allegedly fractured an old friendship with Google co-founder Sergey Brin after having an affair with his wife, Nicole Shanahan, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal . Sources familiar with the situation told the WSJ that the couple filed for divorce earlier this year, citing “irreconcilable differences.” Musk and Shanahan’s affair allegedly occurred at the high-profile Art Basel event in Miami following Musk’s split with then-girlfriend Claire Boucher, also known as Grimes. Sources tell the WSJ that Brin and Shanahan were separated but still living together at the time. The couple’s relationship was reportedly strained due to issues related to the COVID-19 lockdowns and their three-year-old daughter. Musk’s personal life is never far removed from his business, and that hasn’t changed even as the world’s richest man attempts to exit his $44 billion agreement to buy Twitter. Earlier this month, a

The OnePlus 10T won’t have a mute switch — here’s why

The OnePlus 10T in green. | Image: OnePlus The OnePlus 10T isn’t due to launch until August 3rd , but it wouldn’t be a OnePlus phone if the company didn’t reveal a few details early. Today, we’re getting a look at the device’s exterior design, which reveals a couple of interesting (and, depending on your viewpoint, potentially disappointing) changes compared to its predecessor. Although the 10T’s overall design is similar to that of the OnePlus 10 Pro, there’s no alert / mute slider this time, nor is there any sign of the Hasselblad branded-camera system found on recent OnePlus flagships. The alert slider has been a staple of OnePlus’ flagship phones for years, offering a quick and easy way to put its phones into silent and vibrate modes without having to tap through any onscreen menus. In an email interview with The Verge, OnePlus chief designer Hope Liu said that ditching the slider was necessary for the 10T to have enough internal space for other components needed for “high wa

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s first trailer pits Atlantis against the world

Winston Duke as M’Baku in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. | Marvel Studios More so than any of Marvel’s other big reveals at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con , Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ’s first trailer’s something to legitimately get hyped about. During Marvel’s big Hall H showcase today, actress Letitia Wright said that her and the rest of the cast and crew’s goal with Wakanda Forever was to honor the legacy that Chadwick Boseman left following his passing. Wakanda Forever ’s trailer doesn’t directly acknowledge what’s become of T’Challa in the MCU, but his absence and the recent discovery of a new underwater nation once again have the world — Wakanda in particular — on edge. While Wakandans like Shuri (Wright), Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), and Okoye (Danai Gurira) are seen mourning and seemingly trying to figure out how they’re going to move on, the trailer also spotlights a new group of amphibian humanoids — one of whom is born with winged feet. In Marvel’s comics, the

Marvel confirms new Daredevil series for Disney Plus

Now it’s official: a new live-action Daredevil series is coming to Disney Plus. The news was first reported earlier this year , but at Comic-Con this evening Marvel confirmed the series’ existence. It will be called Daredevil: Born Again , and will once again star Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio as Daredevil and the Kingpin. The show is expected to hit Disney Plus in the spring of 2024. Cox and D’Onofrio will be reprising their roles from the original series which debuted as part of partnership with Netflix; earlier this year, however, all of Netflix’s Marvel series — including Jessica Jones and Luke Cage — left the streamer in order to move to Disney Plus . D’Onofrio’s Kingpin has already made an appearance on Disney’s streaming platform through a role on last year’s Hawkeye . Meanwhile, the next major MCU series coming to Disney Plus will be She-Hulk — and Marvel just released a new trailer for it at SDCC . Source: The Verge

She-Hulk’s new trailer shows the importance of spandex and yoga

The next big Marvel series on Disney Plus is She-Hulk — and at Comic-Con this evening, Marvel Studios provided a fresh look at the show. The new trailer has a decidedly more lighthearted tone than the first , with Bruce Banner explaining just how important both spandex and yoga are when you’re a gigantic superhero. But it also gets into some legal drama and, of course, includes some cameos from elsewhere in the Marvel cinematic universe. The trailer was released during a SDCC panel that also detailed the future of the fifth phase of the MCU, which includes films like Blade , Captain America: New World Order , and Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 , alongside Disney Plus series like the second season of Loki . Elsewhere at SDCC, Marvel also showed off its animated slate, including a new trailer for I Am Groot and more details on Spider-Man: Freshman Year and X-Men ‘97 . She-Hulk , meanwhile, hits the streaming service on August 17th. Source: The Verge